More recently Egypt has been the focal point of the “Arab Spring” that began two years ago on December 18, 2010 in Tunisia. Since that time there has been unrest ranging from demonstrations, to riots, to revolutions to at least one civil war in (according to Wikipedia’s count):

We know from recent events how stable Libya is and, according to the Washington Post, some 64,700 Syrians have died since the demonstrations began in November 2011.

Egypt is the cultural and population center of Arabs – not, necessarily, Islam. Egypt’s 83.7 million people is the largest Arab population of any country on the planet.

You know that we, meaning you and I, are huge monetary supporters of Egypt. We pay them upwards of $1.3 billion a year largely to keep their military in the latest arms, and their hands off Israel.

After long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak was thrown out of office in November 2011, there was a period of interim rule by a military junta which, following an election, was replaced by an Islamist regime run by a guy named Mohammed Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Morsi, decided the democratic process was taking just a little longer than he wanted, so on November 22 he issued a decree granting himself virtually unlimited powers out of reach of judicial review.

The group writing a new constitution for Egypt has drafted a document very closely aligned with shira law which, according to a website named sharia-law.info, “Is basically a way of arriving at decisions on how to live life by studying religious texts to determine divine will. Sharia law is also not just a legal system…it’s also a moral system, a structure for living life as a devout Muslim.”

The draft constitution which is at the center of the current unrest in Egypt was hailed by a man described by the Associated Press as an “ultraconservative Muslim cleric” who said, “This constitution has more complete restraints on rights than ever existed before in any Egyptian constitution,” Sheik Yasser Borhami [said]. “This will not be a democracy that can allow what God forbids, or forbid what God allows.”

In their AP piece reporters Lee Keath and Maggie Michael wrote, that of the 85 members who voted, all but 17 were “members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the ultraconservative movement known as Salafis, or their allies.”

So, you see where the secularists in Egypt might have some cause for concern.

It appears that Egypt’s long history of turmoil and chaos is in no danger of being supplanted by peace and harmony.

On the Secret Decoder Ring today: Good links today to that BBC timeline, to a history of Cleopatra, and to the AP analysis of the Egyptian constitution.

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are not sustained by any political, special interest or parent organization, and we do not accept advertising to ensure our advocacy is not restrained by commercial influence. Our mission and operation budget is made possible by the voluntary financial support of Patriots like you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!

Who We Are

We advocate individual liberty, the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and the promotion of free enterpise, national defense, and traditional American values. Read More

What We Offer

On the Web

We offer solid conservative perspective on the issues of the day, including analysis, opinion columns, historic documents, humor, cartoons and more.

Via Email

Choose between our full-length Digest or our quick-hitting Snapshot to keep up with news important to Liberty. We also offer Humor on Monday and Alexander's column on Wednesday.